The Limitless Memories
by Livin In Sin
Summary: Two decades before Ban and Ginji's time, the original GB raise all kinds of hell as they try to solve the mystery of Mugenjou and make enough money on the side to keep themselves in coffee and cigarettes. May contain major spoilers for anime and manga.
1. The Invincible GetBackers

**All I can say is this is what happens when you buy me scotch and anime for Christmas.**

**Discclaimer: I hold no claim over the characters, locations or other elements of the GetBackers universe. Any characters or elements not contained in the anime or manga are my own creations and I would ask only for a request should you wish to replicate them.**

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'No money, no money... no money.' The young man sat hunched over an overflowing ashtray, a sure sign that Midou Ban was not in his best mood. At his side Amano Ginji had his face firmly planted on the counter, occasionally breaking Ban's own lamentations with a groan of 'no food.'

Needless to say this did not amuse Paul in the slightest. 'If you've got time to complain then why not go out and find some work?'

Ginji raised his head at this, looking as though he might burst into tears at any moment. 'B-but Paul-san, how can we work on an empty stomach? Couldn't you just please, please, please put one more pizza on our tab?'

Ban's head shot up as well, his fist slammed down onto the counter and Paul could've sworn he heard his teeth grinding. 'Yeah you old bastard! Can't you just cut this 'pay your tab' crap and give us something to eat!'

Paul didn't so much as stop cleaning the glass in his hands as a little smirk graced his features. 'Well that's a good question, Ban... I guess I can give Ginji some food since he asked so nicely.' As Ginji raised his arms in celebration Ban's head struck the counter with an audible thunk. 'You could really use some work on your people skills, y'know that kiddo?'

The Limitless Memories

Chapter 1: The Invincible GetBackers

Two decades before Midou Ban and Amano Ginji would sit in the Honky Tonk café, those selfsame seats were occupied by another couple of deadbeats and coincidentally enough another pair of GetBaxkers. A lot of things changed over that time...

'I'm just saying, Voodoo Brew makes the place sound like one of those beatnik cafés from way back.'

'Geez, customers don't usually complain at me over their FREE coffee. What the hell would you call it then, if you're so knowledgeable?'

Paul paused for a second, he really had no answer at all. 'Uh, I dunno... something more upbeat... maybe...'

The young man at the end of the counter shifted himself, still idly stirring his coffee, as if transfixed by the distorted reflection of his clean cut shirt and tie. 'He doesn't have an answer.' Paul's jaw dropped at his partner's disparaging remark.

'I-I have an answer... and its a good answer...!'

Der Kaiser finally ceased stirring his coffee and tipped it back, drinking the whole lot down at once. 'Well then? What's this great name you've come up with? I hope it's better than the last one.'

'The... the- Hey! Just whose side are you on anyway?'

The older man standing behind the counter puffed on his pipe and blew smoke across the counter in Paul's face. 'Well then?'

Paul coughed and tilted back on his stool, nearly falling flat on his back. 'Damnit Hibiki! Cut that out!' He steadied himself again and glanced from Kaiser, who was rather unhelpfully staring off in to space, to Hibiki whose mirrored tea shades and beret looked like headlights and a car bonnet to the flustered youth. 'Fine then... uh, how 'bout...' Paul suddenly sprang up, one foot on his stool and the other on the counter with one arm pointed to the heavens as though he were striking some kind of super sentai pose. 'THE HONKY TONK!' he exclaimed in a proud and happy voice. For a moment everything went deathly quiet, Kaiser's gaze had shifted to Paul, though still he looked distinctly uninterested. Paul's arm dropped and his shoulder's slumped momentarily in embarrassment only to spring up again as Hibiki jammed an elbow into his gut, sending him plummeting to the floor below.

'I don't mind elbows on the counter, but damn it there's a limit, Paul.'

'You really do suck with names you know?' Kaiser rose from his seat and straightened his tie as he spoke. 'Three more coffees, we have a guest.' Paul craned his neck from the floor as the bell above the door rang but still all he could see was a pair of stockinged legs from where he was. Not that he minded.

'For God's sake Paul, compose yourself.' Kaiser though had a better view. _High school senior from the look of her, not much in the way of make up, maybe suggesting a strict upbringing... not that she needs it at all... Oh God I'm actually starting to sound like Paul. _Kaiser's glance slid over the thin and delicate lines of her face and long hair. _Looks even darker than Hibiki's coffee, twice as smooth too._

'Excuse me, is this where I can find the retrieval service?' she asked, her voice was soft and to Kaiser's ears possessed an almost music like quality.

Paul sprang on her like a greyhound out of the start gate, she seemed a little overcome by his sudden advance and perhaps an equal part by the gash which had appeared on his forehead. 'Why yes, this is the home of the invincible GetBackers, the recovery service with a 100% success rate. I'm Wan Paul, the brains of the outfit and the surly guy standing over there is my business acquaintance and heterosexual life partner.'

The girl looked past Paul, to Kaiser again, she stared him down as if transfixed for a few seconds before he broke her gaze and headed for one of the booths in the back. 'Geez Paul, you don't have to justify it like that, you'll make it sound suspicious.'

'You guys are pretty suspicious anyway' Hibiki added from behind the counter.

Paul gave him a sideways glance along with a whispered 'shut up' as he ushered the client back towards the booth Kaiser had chosen, once there he sat down next to his partner and waited patiently for the girl to explain what she wanted to employ them for. Unfortunately Kaiser had never displayed that sort of patience, as Hibiki brought the coffee and the timid girl still struggled to find the words it seemed that he could take no more delays. 'Just spit out out,' he ordered, 'whatever it is you want us to get back. Or else stop wasting our time.'

For a moment everyone went deathly quiet, Paul scowled at Kaiser in the silence, his partner seemed almost entirely unmoved. 'No need to come over all harsh, partner.'

'No... no, it's okay' the girl said quietly, raising her eyes to the both of them, 'My name is Midou Atsuko and... well, it's no so much that I want you to get something back... it's more, I want you to get someone back.'

'Go on' Paul urged her, 'we're listening.' Kaiser remained quiet and sipped his coffee.

'Well, he's sort of like my little brother, but not really...'

'Sort of, but not really?' Kaiser's voice was cold and harsh, almost like he was pressing her just for the fun of it.

'I know it's silly, but I've always thought of him like that, it's just that he saved my life once and...' she sniffed and tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. Hibiki, who had been stood over them still, handed her a handkerchief. She thanked him and dabbed her eyes.

Kaiser leaned in on the table to look out of the booth at the proprietor. 'Finished rubbernecking now? Think maybe you could do some work for a change?'

'You oughta talk.' Hibiki snorted as he tucked his tray under one arm and threw a dish towel over the other before heading back to the counter.

'So you want us to get back your little brother?' Paul summarised, 'Did you lose him? Did he run off somewhere?'

Atsuko wiped her eyes again. 'It's nothing like that, we never lived in the same place to begin with, it's just that he... he's...'

Atsuko collapsed into a fit of sobs, Kaiser was sipping his coffee with his eyes closed and then set the cup down with a little clink as it hit the saucer. 'Mugenjou' he said flatly. That caught everyone's attention. He stared Atsuko down through half opened eyes and continued, 'Your 'little brother' was taken to Mugenjou and you want us to bring him back out.'

Atsuko reigned in her sobbing and nodded. 'Yes, well no, not exactly. He's... Teshimine's always been there as far as I know, but when I think about him with his kind heart in a place so... so much like that. I just wanted to see him, to make sure he's okay.'

'The answer is no.' Kaiser rose up from his seat and turned as if to leave, but Paul had risen as well, blocking him off.

'What's with all of that! 'The answer's no!' Case you'd forgotten the GetBackers is a team!'

'In case you'd forgotten the GetBackers are a business, it's far too dangerous a task to accept some kind of pocket change. There's no way she'd ever be able to get us the fees.'

'But... she's... well just look at her...' Kaiser obliged, casting a cold stare at the tears now freely rolling down the girl's face. 'If anyone ever needed a recovery service it's her, right? Isn't that what we started this business to do? To get back-'

'—what shouldn't be missing in the first place.' Kaiser completed the mantra without a thread of emotion in his voice.

'I'll pay it.' Hibiki was still at the counter drying dishes, but had been listening the entire time it seemed. 'I'll take off your tab you dead beats. That acceptable to the stick in your ass, snake boy?' Kaiser did not respond, he simply turned back to his new client.

'Okay, the invincible GetBackers will bring your brother out of Mugenjou.'

The girl's eyes immediately brightened as she looked up at their faces, Paul smiled down at her. 'Thanks... just thanks so much, Paul-san... I-I don't think I got your name...'

'I didn't give it.' With that Kaiser shoved past Paul and headed to the door, Paul made to follow him but looked back to Atsuko in reassurance.

'Don't worry, the GetBackers have a 100% success rate after all!' He waved as he bolted out the door after his partner. Catching up to him outside he drew level and fell into step. 'We really need to work on your people skills, partner.'

'It's been a while' Atsuko said to herself, she was still in the booth where the GetBackers had left her. Hibiki was pouring her a fresh cup of coffee, she motioned to reach into her jacket, probably looking to pay for all the coffee she'd drunk.

'Put it away, your money's no good here.' He finished pouring her coffee and seated himself across from her. 'Besides which I can always put it back on their tab when the job's finished.'

Atsuko smiled but her brow furrowed almost immediately again. 'Hibiki-san? How well do you know them exactly, the GetBackers?'

'Well, Paul I've known for most of his life, think I'm the one who understands him best in fact... the other one, not so much. Why?'

The girl hugged herself and shifted uncomfortably. 'It's just that, well, Paul-san seems nice and all and I understand why someone like that would be in a recovery business... but the other one, when he looked at me... He seems just... so cold, like there's nothing at all inside of him.'

Hibiki was lighting up his pipe as she spoke, he shook the match out and took three short puffs before a long exhale. 'There's been plenty of rain falling on Paul through his life, I think that's why he can be so kind, because he knows what it means to be hurt. He has a supremely good heart even though there might well be nothing in his head.' He paused for another long inhale and blew a smoke cloud out over their heads. 'Kaiser, well, I dunno the details. If I had to guess I'd say it seems like he tried to empty his heart of everything for some reason, it must have been something terrible that happened to him. Not like a steady cold rain which beat him down, something more like a tsunami which drowned his world.'

Atsuko spoke up, involuntarily raising her voice and then correcting herself. 'But! But... how can you trust someone who's emptied their heart of everything?'

'Good question. Truth is you can't.' He took a few more puffs of his pipe, building up to a deep breathe, as he continued smoke billowed out from his mouth. 'You don't have to trust him, hell you don't even have to like him, 'cause apart they're both idiots, but together... they're...' Atsuko leaned in, listening intently. 'The Invincible GetBackers and once the GetBackers take on an assignment they wont ever back down.'

Atsuko looked down at her coffee. 'That's what worries me.'

Paul glanced up at the massive structure which dominated the skyline and gave a sigh. He looked over to his partner beside him and spoke. 'So, how'd you know her brother was in Mugenjou to begin with?'

'I didn't.'

Paul was so surprised he nearly missed a step and went flying, but caught himself just in time. 'You didn't? Then... how?'

'The way she couldn't address the problem was a dead give away that it was something awful, it was either going to be yakuza or that damn place... if it were yakuza she might've been able to say.'

'You just rolled the dice then? So unreliable...' Paul muttered to himself, he hated when Kaiser passed off his guesswork as though he knew what he was on about, it just made him look so much worse by comparison.

'We're here.' Ahead of them lay an empty street, they had stopped seeing people a while ago, ahead though they could feel the unmistakeable and terrible aura of Mugenjou. High above them was Babylon Tower, their shared destiny, their promise to one another. The streets were void of life, the paving was cracked and broken and there was hardly a window that wasn't boarded up. 'It hasn't changed at all.'

'Nah, there used to be a broken down printing place over on the right, now its just rubble.'

'That's not—'

'I know.' Kaiser and Paul smiled at each other, their faces quickly becoming set and determined as they looked ahead into Lower Town. 'Alright, Operation Get Back the Little Brother!'

'Commence!' At Kaiser's word they both broke into a sprint, without so much as a care to how they would find Teshimine, but somehow knowing full well that they would.

'The first time Paul met Der Kaiser they kicked the crap out of one another. I've never seen Paul come back with so many bruises... and this is the toughest guy in Ura Shinjuku we're talking about.' Hibiki sipped his coffee and then realised that they'd been talking so long it had gone cold. 'I'll get us another one.' He rose from his seat, but Atsuko caught him by the arm.

'I'm fine thanks, just tell me more about them... these invincible GetBackers of yours.'

Hibiki sat back down with a soft smile. 'Course it isn't like Kaiser got off without a mark either, I'd like to say that Paul beat that snotty son of a bitch all around town, but when I treated their injuries it seemed as though they'd been completely even.'

'But then... if they had such trouble with each other, how did they end up in the retrieval business together?'

Hibiki rubbed his chin, clearly searching all his memories of the deadbeat duo for a reason that he was aware of. He broke into a smile. 'I gotta tell ya, I really haven't got a clue, but I have to say that I get it.' He scooped out the bowl of his pipe into the ashtray beside him. 'Boy oh boy, I should have cleaned this out much sooner. So anyway, I may not know why they become a partnership, but I completely understand why they've stayed together.'

'And why's that?' Atsuko was completely focussed on Hibiki and thoughts of the recovery service she'd employed, she'd almost completely forgotten about why she'd taken them on. She hadn't even noticed the sun was setting.

'Because they suit one another. It's really that simple, maybe at first they were just surprised they'd found someone as strong as themselves, but I can tell that Paul cares about his partner just because they're a team and even though he may not show it I'm not sure there's a person alive today who Kaiser cares about more than Paul.'

'What makes you say that?'

'Cause if there was then he's the kind of straightforward guy who'd be with them rather than with Paul in Mugenjou right now.'

For the first time in hours Atsuko took her eyes off of Hibiki and looked across the café, out the window and towards where the GetBackers were. 'Mugenjou... it must be like hell, just thinking about Teshimine in there...'

'Nah, hell and Mugenjou are two very different things. Mugenjou is just a harsh environment, one which was created by men and it's not like it isn't a place which people can make a good life in. Hell is being cut off from the one you care most about... so I guess maybe you could say little Teshi isn't the one that's in hell. Don't you start crying though, I'm sure those two will get him back for you.' _Hurry your asses up guys... don't you dare turn me into a liar. _'So, how about you tell me some more about this little brother of yours?'

Paul lit up a cigarette as he perched himself on a pile of rubble, Kaiser kept on pacing up and down, looking this way and that. Paul took a long drag before speaking. 'To think that the great Kaiser would go get himself lost like this, it's priceless.'

'Shut up' Kaiser spat back, changing directions again. 'I'm not looking for a way out.'

'Yeah, yeah.' The building they had come through was all but collapsed, the outer walls had almost completely crumbled away and it was impossible to guess what it once might have been. The place had been stripped of everything that wasn't nailed down on the inside... and most of what had been nailed down.

'If I wanted a way out I'd have just thrown you through the drywall.'

'Charming.'

'Naturally.' Kaiser looked over his shoulder towards a partially collapsed wall. 'You must have felt it by now.'

'Felt what?' Kaiser turned to Paul as if to speak, a crash resounded between them and the floorboards there exploded outwards and upwards. Paul shielded his eyes and waited a moment for the dust to settle, when he opened them it was only to see what knocked him to the ground. 'A tonfa?'

'That's right!' The figure stood over him was not Kaiser, it was far too small. 'With my wits and my twin tonfa style there is no one in Mugenjou whom I, Takeru Teshimine can be equalled by!'

'Takeru...? Teshi-?'

'Sssnakebite!' Kaiser's hand appeared from the dust cloud and wrapped itself firmly around Teshimine's neck, lifting him clean off the ground. The boy struggled and thrashed but he couldn't work his way free. 'I don't like being jumped, kid and I don't like getting dust on my suit either.'

The boy lashed out again and kicked Kaiser square in the ribs, the retriever didn't so much as flinch. 'That suit looks like a cheap knock off anyway!'

Paul took one of the tonfas from the floor and looked from it to the kid. 'This? This is the dear little brother?' Paul looked him up and down for a moment, he wasn't expecting this at all. For starters the scar over his right eye looked pretty nasty, but he guessed that battle scars were a given growing up in such a place. What really struck him was the boy's silvery hair, clipped neatly around his head like any other child out in the world and the really clincher were the bright golden eyes which regarded them both with an intensity which ought to have been far beyond his years.. Other than that he could just be any other kid, from the flip-flop sandals on his feet up past his khaki three quarters to his black vest he looked just a normal kid. A normal kid with awful dress sense, but whatever.

'What you talking about you skinny punk! Come on I'll take both of you on!'

As the boy continued to squirm Kaiser broke into one of his few and far between genuine smiles. 'Interesting.' He tightened his grip and the boy suddenly went limp.

Paul's eyes went wide, all colour drained from his face as he screamed down Kaiser's ear. 'Ah! What are you doing you crazy snake bastard! We were supposed to recover him not break his neck in two! What are you thinking of!'

Kaiser didn't bat an eyelid as he dropped the boy to the floor. 'He's alive you moron, just knocked out. Go in that other room there, I think I saw an old rug. Be quick about it too, before anyone else works up the courage to attack.' He raised his voice only a tiny bit for the last sentence, but it was not lost on Paul, nor was it lost on the hidden onlookers.


	2. Fire and Spirit

**These first two chapters are still subject to editing, I'll give a heads up should I change anything major in them. I gotta say I'm enjoying writing this, so naturally I hope you enjoy reading it just as much.**

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The Limitless Memories

Chapter 2: Fire and Spirit

'You said it was this way.'

Paul had begun to grind his teeth with frustration, the fact his partner hadn't so much as raised his voice irritated him even more. 'I'm telling you it was this way, moron!'

'You've gotten us lost haven't you?' Kaiser shifted the limp form on his shoulder, the dusty old rug that they'd wrapped the unconscious Teshimine in was beginning to chafe. 'So you suck at names AND directions... what kind of partner did I go and choose for myself?'

Paul's eyebrow twitched as he turned away and began walking again down the narrow alleyway. 'Hey, there's no need for talk like that now is there, partner?' Paul heard Kaiser sigh behind him and begin following. As they reached the end of the alley they were confronted by the remains of a collapsed building, rubble formed a rough perimeter around its edge and was scattered in piles around what must once have been its basement level. Jutting up towards ground level were crumbling and bent support columns which looked like they might give out in a stiff breeze. 'Okay, so it's not this way.'

Paul had turned back to retrace their steps, but was confronted by a mass of figures dashing down the alleyway. 'We can't go back that way no. Move!' Kaiser raised a foot and shoved Paul backward into the empty space, leaving him to the hands of fate before leaping down into the chasm with Teshimine still on his shoulder.

Paul landed hard and it took him a few seconds to compose himself. Der Kaiser landed nimbly beside him and set off at a run without a second thought. Paul clambered to his feet only to see their pursuers raining down after them, grimacing at their predicament he set off after Kaiser. 'PARTNER!'

Kaiser was not best pleased, they'd completely bungled the job, they had the target, but it was hardly a recovery without an extraction strategy. From their current situation there were few places they could go, there might be sub-basements they could get to, but they were unlikely to lead anywhere. _This can't be happening, this isn't happening, we're the GetBackers damn it!_

Kaiser immediately stopped and turned around, dropping the still unconscious child to the ground. Paul pasued as he caught up. 'Take the boy and get going' Kaiser ordered, 'I'm staying to fight.' His fingers curved inward to a claw like formation.

Paul looked at the rolled carpet and then to his partner. 'Partner, this is Mugenjou we're talking about here, no way we're just gonna run in to normal guys.'

'Yeah, I'm fully aware of that, but it's not like I'm normal either.' He raised a hand to the advancing attackers. 'I'm Der Kaiser!' Paul opened his mouth as if to protest but Kaiser swung his hand sideways, smashing it into the concrete of one of the support columns The structure creaked with its base almost obliterated by Kaiser's Snakebite and began to bend. Paul swept the bundled target up in his arms and sped off.

The Gale Emperor spared one backward glance and yelled out. 'We made a promise, remember! A promise!' If there even was a reply Paul did not hear it as the column crashed down between them.

Kaiser rushed on into the throng of limbs, they were no match for him, no comparison to either him or Paul, but there were so many that they could not fight and protect the target at once. If the lost the boy here recovering him would become so much more difficult. Ducking and weaving through the crowd Kaiser was actually smiling at the thought of Paul getting away.

'This is as far as you go, no further.' The voice stopped Paul in his tracks. A figure strode out from behind one of the cracked supports, blocking his path. Tall and slim, what one might call athletically built sporting short black hair. A black sleeveless vest, dress pants, brown leather shoes, fingerless gloves. The most striking thing about him was his eyes, his deep, rich, red eyes. 'You wont take one of my own from this place.'

Paul set the boy down, the stranger snapped his fingers and the rug burst into flames which burnt down quickly, revealing the boy, seemingly untouched by them. 'I see... so it's like that.'

'Yeah... I can control the flames, they go **where **I want and burn **what** I want.' The man raised his hand ready to snap his fingers again. 'I would ask your name, but there's no point. Know only that you were sent to Hell by Ujie Kaijin.' He snapped his fingers and a ball of flames bloomed in his hand. Paul did not some much as flinch. 'Paralysed by fear are you? Disappear into the flames then, nameless kidnapper.' The ball shot from his hand toward Paul.

For a second he stayed completely still, then his face broke into a wide grin, he drew back his fist and struck the projectile head on, there was a rush of air. Kaijin raised his arm to shield himself from the wind as it rushed by and when he looked back his fireball was no more. 'I'm no kidnapper and I got a name' Paul responded, placing both hands on his hips, 'I'm Wan Paul of the world famous GetBackers!'

Kaijin raised an eyebrow, clearly confused.

'Yeah, that put you on the back foot, huh!'

'No, it's just... I've never even heard of you.'

Paul slumped at those words, seemed like no matter how much they did they never got any recognition. 'Why didn't I listen to my mother and become an idol?'

'World famous or not' Kaijin announced as he adjusted his gloves, 'You'll be famous enough when you fall prey to Kouenouji of Mugenjou.' The flame wielder rushed Paul, his fists burning red and the retrieval agent met him half way, catching his fist and throwing his own punch which was likewise intercepted. 'I'll give you this much GetBacker... for a common thief you sure do have some guts to fight me.'

'Hey, I'm... a recovery agent, I'm no thief. Just get that straight right off!'

As the fight raged on, the boy who'd been unconscious up until now had begun to stir. His eyes adjusted to the dim light slowly, but he then had to shield them from the glare of a nearby flame. He bolted up, still shielding his face from the immense light and heat. As it died down his eyes spread wide. 'Ujie-sama!'

Both Kaijin and Paul looked over at him, he instantly regretted speaking up as Paul took his chance to nail Kaijin with a stiff left hook. The flame user staggered back, catching himself before he fell. He spared Teshimine another look. 'There's another one of them around. Can I trust you with that?' He ducked his head to one side, deflecting another of Paul's punches with his forearm and striking home to his ribs with the other hand. Paul fell back, landing square on his backside as Teshimine's face brightened to a wide child like grin.

As the boy turned and ran Paul heard him yell back. 'I'll definitely get him for you Ujie-sama!'

Kaijin straightened up and backed away as Paul stood up again, at least it seemed he wasn't the kinda guy who'd strike a downed opponent. 'Sorry, Paul-san was it? Now that Teshimine's out of the way I don't have any reason to hold back.' He spread his arms, each hand being engulfed in a red flame which burned hotter and brighter every moment.

The air around Paul stirred as his smile returned. 'Yeah, that goes for me as well.'

'What's inside of Mugenjou? Exactly.'

'No one knows' Hibiki replied, pouring out some more coffee, night had now overtaken the town completely by this time. He checked his watch when he was done pouring. 'At least I should say no one knows **exactly, **but everyone who goes close enough to it gets the same feeling. That the answer is up somewhere in Babylon Tower. That's where the truth is, that's what Paul and Kaiser think was taken from everyone in this town. Maybe it's something that was taken from the whole world.'

Atsuko stared glumly into her coffee. 'Then is that the reason... is that why the other one, Kaiser, is so...?'

'Nah, he's always been a dick. Doesn't even think enough of us to give his real name.'

'That's not his real name?' She raise her eyes, clearly having some macabre interest in the man who chilled her so.

'Der Kaiser? Nah, it's German, it means 'The Emperor.' What kinda arrogant snot goes around with a nickname like that, huh?'

Kaiser looked down to his bloodstained hands. Weak. He was truly disappointed with the slim pickings he'd encountered so far. They hadn't so much as ruffled his shirt, let alone actually damage him before being laid out. He could still hear the odd groan or muttered curse, but he was pretty much done with the mob he guessed. 'You guys suck at this' he said flatly. He kicked one of those closest to him with the toe of his shoe, hoping to coax some signs of life from them. Alas, it was to no avail.

'No way!' Though he had been aware of the presence, the voice from atop the ruined column drew Kaiser's full attention. Takeru Teshimine stared down at his with eyes wide and anger plain on his face.

'You took your time getting here.' The retrieval agent turned to face him properly. 'Didn't think you'd be stupid enough to come back for another thrashing though.'

'Shut up!' Teshimine's face was contorted with anger, from his vantage point he leaped down at Kaiser, his fist sailed past as Kaiser simply stepped out of its path. He hit the floow crouching and swept his leg back, Kaiser simply stamped the attack down with one foot and swung the other into the boy's face. Teshimine hit the ground hard, the air washed right out of his lungs with the impact but he began to push himself back up only a moment later.

'Don't bother getting up.' Kaiser was still stood over him, his face blank, almost bored at Teshimine's display. 'You're only going to get knocked down again.' Teshimine touched a hand to his face, he was fiddling around with something. 'A contact lens?' The boy sprang up towards Kaiser who barely avoided his fist this time, he could feel the backwash of air as the attack tore by. The boy twisted his body and flung a leg toward the side of Kaiser's head, the recoverer only just held the attack off with his forearm. Even then he was sent skidding backwards, Teshimine landed, standing with his back straight and shoulders back, an entirely new kind of confidence seemed to have washed over him.

'I wont let you hurt anyone else in Lower Town...' His voiced rasped with anger and a sort of righteous fury.

It wasn't until the boy lifted his eyes to meet Kaiser's that he was really surprised, where his right pupil out to have been was a black cross and his iris had taken on a yellow hue, not so different from his eyes' usual gold. 'I see...' Kaiser cast an eye to the discarded contact, 'That lens is like a seal of some kind... and with it removed you've surpassed your limitations as a human, haven't you?'

'It's called a Stigma' Teshimine spat the word out as if keeping it on his tongue would have made him retch, 'The mark of those who have stepped beyond. Of those who have scaled Mugenjou.'

Kaiser's eyes widened in disbelief, the boy had done what he and Paul had only spoken of doing, to think that someone like that had solved the mystery of Mugenjou.

'I thought that might get your attention, so you should know there's no way you can defeat me now.'

Kaiser, somewhat out of character, broke into a grin, he was actually chuckling to himself. 'This job just gets better and better.' Reaching up he undid his tie and discarded it before rolling his shirt sleeves up past his elbows, he raised his hands again, widened his stance and fixed his eyes to the boy, 'Alright then Takeru Teshimine, I'll tell you this much now. Even with that Stigma, someone like you is ten years away from beating Der Kaiser!'

The two combatants rushed at one another, Kaiser with his longer reach grabbed the smaller boy's head and planted his face right in the dirt, from there he dragged him up and threw him against the fallen column before following up with a lunge from his Snakebite. His hand struck only concrete as Teshimine weaved his head out of the way and slammed a fist into his abdomen. Kaiser, though largely unjarred by the attack, backed off immediately. ' Not bad kid... so you can use this place like that as well?'

Paul was panting for breath, down on one knee and trembling all over from exertion. Kaijin was in similar straits, leaning against a rubble mound for support, cuts littering his body in the same way he had inflicted burns against Paul. As they were taking a brief respite from their fight there was just something that Paul had to ask, something which had bothered him since Kaijin had sent his young ally off. 'Is it really okay for you to send a kid like that out against Kaiser? I mean you're supposed to take care of him right?'

'Teshimine can take care of himself. If that other guy has any sense about him, he'll turn tail and run before he gets himself killed.'

Paul smiled, he nearly burst out laughing in fact. 'He can't be that strong, we caught him the first time easy as pie.'

Kaijin grimaced as he pushed himself up and staggered towards Paul, the recoverer stood as well and limped toward his opponent. 'Don't get any ideas GetBacker, Teshimine might have underestimated you for being outsiders, but in all of Lower Town only I'm stronger. That's because... more than anyone else... Tehimine's self confidence is unshakeable.'

'Self confidence is an asset, sure, but you need the ability to back it up.'

Kaijin shook his head. 'You don't get it. You're in Mugenjou... the same rules don't apply. As long as Teshimine believes in himself, the power of Mugenjou wont let him lose to anyone.'

'You're talking about Babylon Tower?'

'If you can beat me, I might tell you. I wouldn't get your hopes up though, you're going to be burned to cinders right here.'

'Guess we're both just gonna have to go ahead and use our last techniques then?' Paul straightened up, giving a respectful nod to his worthy opponent. Kaijin did likewise, he held both hands up above his head, palms open towards the sky.

'Red Flame Palm: Advent of the Vengeful Demon!' Flames burst up from his hands, but this time they washed down over his body, engulfing and whipping around it so Paul could only catch glimpses of him in the roaring fire. Kaijin rushed towards him, the flames arched backwards revealing their master, but stuck with him. It was an attack with no openings, but the next thing that Kaijin knew he was floating through the air, his flames were extinguished and he was high above the ground. There was nothing he could do but watch the stars in the sky as he crashed to the earth. He hit the ground spread eagled and with nothing left to move his aching limbs.

Paul stood over him, smiling with a cigarette perched in the corner of his mouth. 'That's what me and the other guy call a Vacuum Step. You couldn't see it, could you?' Kaijin gave a shaky nod. 'Cool, if a guy with as much fighting experience as you couldn't see, then it must really be something.'

'Aren't you going to finish it?'

Paul looked confused and knelt down at Kaijin's side. 'What, you think that just because you lost that's it? Well that may be how it works in Mugenjou, but it isn't how the GetBackers operate. Now light me up, there's some questions I wanna ask about that kid.' Paul lifted up Kaijin's hand and a sliver of flame shot from one of his fingers, lighting his cigarette. Paul took a quick drag before he elaborated. 'Those two are really going at one another. Now that we've stopped fighting I can feel the vibrations in the air just from their fighting spirit. It's so strong I can hear their strikes ringing in my ears. So I want to ask, how is that kid so strong he can fight Kaiser?'

'I suppose you've earned the right to know. Teshimine was born in Mugenjou, he was part of one of the families under my care. When he was still young his parents died under my command, so naturally I taught him how to take care of himself as soon as he could hold himself upright, but he always wanted to go further. I don't quite know the details... but about two years ago he came back down from the Beltline and he was... different. He'd been gone for days and we thought he was dead anyway, but it turns out it was much worse.'

Paul paused a second, clearly confused. 'What could be worse than death though?'

'It wasn't until later that it all came out. Teshimine was still exhausted and I was watching over him when this guy appeared, now I don't scare so easy... but that guy... he had a face like a fox and eyes like a demon. He didn't give a name, but he explained quite a few things to me, He said the Stigma would augment Teshimine's abilities beyond their human peak, that his scaling of Babylon Tower had been predetermined and finally that his memories of it had been sealed away until the time was right.'

'I see...'

'I can understand why Teshimine is the way he is now. Those monsters... the bastards up in Babylon City, they took everything away from him, his past and future and now he only wants an achievement that he can call his own.'

Paul stood up again and looked up towards the night sky. 'There's one thing I don't get. How could a child scale Babylon Tower? Even the creatures in the Beltline are enough to keep most fighters away, even those with special abilities.'

Kaijin sighed. 'You weren't listening to me before were you? Here in Mugenjou the same rules don't apply. Teshimine has the kind of brash confidence that can only manifest itself in an immature mind... Takeru Teshimine... he has no concept of death or defeat.'

Paul flicked his cigarette away and began to walk back towards Teshimine and Der Kaiser. 'Then I better go give my partner a hand.'

'Just you be careful who you hand him over to... Teshimine's power has made him a target since that day, no, even before then.'

'I'll try to remember that while my friend's mopping the floor with his face.'

Kaijin was not amused at Paul's jibes, he found the force of will to push himself back up on his elbows. 'You idiot! Weren't you listening! To anyone but me, Takeru Teshimine might as well be invincible in Mugenjou!'

Paul looked back at him, a warm smile gracing his features. 'You just said the kid's got a chip on his shoulder. And if there's one man who I know that has no concept of defeat then it'd have to be Der Kaiser.' His piece said he turned back to his path and gave a casual wave. 'Later.'

It didn't take Paul long to find where his partner was fighting, even if he couldn't sense the impact of their strikes through the air he could've sensed the fighting spirit between them. He climbed a pile of rubble and there they were, slugging away at each other, their clothes were full of rips, Kaiser's right sleeve was all but gone and they both generally had the appearance of someone who'd just walked out of a hedgerow. Paul smiled down at them, neither content to give even an inch to the other. Though they could seem totally even to the untrained eye, Paul could sense their fighting power radiating through the air around them and there was no comparison. 'Guess you don't need my help with this one then, eh partner!'

For the first time in the fight Kaiser and Teshimine's eyes left one another and looked up at Paul. Kaiser gave one of his rare smiles. 'Guess this means I don't have to subtract your burial from the fee?'

'Nah, I'm good!'

Teshimine looked up at Paul with wide eyes, while the recoverer simply kept on smiling down at him. The young boy grimaced and bowed his head as though he'd just been struck through the heart, but fixed his eyes back on Der Kaiser with a new found spark. 'That's it! Even if Ujie-sama couldn't beat your partner, I'll beat you down and even the score even if it kills me!' Pulling back his fist the boy threw all of his weight behind his next punch, but for all his words Kaiser caught and held it easily no matter how hard he strained or what he threw behind it.

Even Paul seemed impressed by his partner's dominance of the situation. 'With your left hand, huh?'

Kaiser kept his hold, undeterred by how fierce the force Teshimine threw at him. 'What's that nonsense you're spouting? Even if it kills you?'

Teshimine growled, further angered by how calm his enemy seemed. 'I'll get you! I'll kill you for sure!'

'That's more like it.' Kaiser shoved him back with the one hand then took up his fighting stance again. 'Even now by thy right hand...'

Paul knew full well what was coming and what it meant to the battle at hand. 'Looks like this'll be the last attack.' Teshimine lunged at Der Kaiser again, the retriever vanished in a flicker of movement, appearing some distance behind the youth, nearly done with his invocation. 'Hey boy! You'll never hit him like that! The only chance you have is to meet his attack head on!'

'...therefore, I invoke thee. Feed! With your fangs of poison!' The air around Kaiser was overtaken by the image of a massive spectral snake, slithering out of nowhere and disappearing back into the ether with no discernible beginning or end. They rushed at each other again, but even without the last strike the fight was decided. Teshimine swung his fist in, but Kaiser had already let lose with an uppercut palm which sent the boy flying backwards and to the floor.

For a second Teshimine couldn't rightly tell what happened, it was only when he started coughing and retching that he realised. 'I... lost...'

Kaiser was walking towards him as he sat up, clutching his chest from the impact of the recoverer's attack. 'In any battle the will to live is essential, nothing in the entire universe is stronger than the human will and when you lose that you lose any hope of winning.'

Teshimine crossed his arms and huffed. 'Whatever, just drag me out or finish me off or whatever it is you losers were hired to do.'

'You idiot, I'm trying to tell you that you have to survive. Besides which we're only here to take you to your big sister.'

'And I'm telling you idiots I don't have any big sister!'

Paul came sliding down the rubble to join them and interject. 'Well you see, she's kinda like your sister, but not really.'

Teshimine glanced up at him, bemused. 'You guys make no sense.'


	3. Afterservice 1: The Limitless Spirit

**Welcome readers, just thought I'd let you know that this is a little aside to help round off the first 'arc' of Limitless Memories. For those interested, I'm in the process of writing the second arc 'Divine Voice.'  
**

**At the risk of sounding patronising I feel I should clear a few things up for those who have not read the manga. Paul's backstory is far removed from what it was in the anime, as he was not part of the Plunderers, but a part of the first generation GB with Ban's father Der Kaiser. This fic picks up sometime after their initial meeting.**

**Now for the elements that I've introduced. At this point in time Ujie Kaijin and Takeru Teshimine are the only ones known to have scaled Babylon Tower and Teshimine is the only one to have entered Babylon City (as this is before the Witch Queen sealed it off behind Heaven's Door) and recieved the Stigma. (This entire scenario actually began when I was watching Advent of the Lightning Emperor, think it was that episode, and was like 'ho, I totally forgot Teshimine had a Stigma.' That and the fact that I'm reading Get Back the Lost Time made me want to write this.) Because he did not enter Babylon City, Kaijin did not recieve a Stigma of his own, but he did not return to Lower Town entirely unchanged.  
**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.  
**

* * *

The Limitless Memories

Afterservice 1: The Limitless Spirit

Kaiser and Paul stood outside the Voodoo Brew, Kaiser was looking idly up at the sign, a neon image of a coffee cup designed like a human skull along with the establishment's name. 'Why do you think he chose that name... Voodoo Brew?' Paul looked up from lighting his cigarette in disbelief, looking from Kaiser, to the sign and then back to Kaiser.

'Seriously? They're talking everything out in there and you're still on about the café?'

Kaiser's gaze dropped and he shut his eyes in contemplation. 'I was just thinking of something from back in my childhood, it's not important.'

Paul yanked the cigarette out of his mouth, his interest well and truly sparked up. 'Hey, c'mon, don't be Mr Grumpy Kaiser on me now, if it's from your childhood well sure it's important.'

Kaiser snapped his eyes open and shot Paul a glare. 'It's in the past.'

'Okay, okay already I'll leave it.' Paul continued trying to light his smoke, not having any luck. 'Stupid thing, why'd that guy have to stay in Mugenjou? You got a light, partner?'

'Don't smoke.'

With a sigh Paul shoved his lighter away and placed his cigarette back in the pack. 'Say, partner?'

'Hm?'

'Is there anyone in this world that you want to protect?'

'I'm sort of keen on watching out for myself now you come to mention it, why?'

'C'mon, really? That's it?' Kaiser gave a nod. 'That guy, Ujie Kaijin, by the time we'd stopped fightin' the skin on his hands was starting to burn from his own attack... I can only imagine what his final technique would've done if he'd had to fight too long.'

'Your point being?'

'He was ready to fight tooth and nail for that little snot. I just... no one ever stuck up for me like that when I was a kid... I mean Hibiki showed me how to look after myself but I've never seen him throw so much as a punch. It just amazes me that anybody could fight like that for someone else... I guess when you love a friend like that...' Paul's gaze dropped to the floor.

'Love is selfish' Kaiser interrupted, 'I mean look at Midou-chan in there, she's probably trying to convince Teshimine to come out of that hell hole and come live with her and her grateful family, not caring one damn for the life he might have built inside of Mugenjou.'

'Kaiser...'

'The people there have hopes and cares and dreams of their own. The people outside would just prefer to forget about them, walk around with their eyes on the pavement so they aren't reminded that the place is there. They're just as bad as the people up at the top of Babylon Tower, no, they're even worse than that.' Leaning against the wall by the doorway with his arms crossed Kaiser's face had curved into a scowl. 'They don't even think the people living there are worthy of their scorn, it's insane. Disgusting.' Kaiser looked across the doorway to his partner who was just staring at him. 'What?'

'Nothing. Just, I've never seen you so angry before.'

'No, I suppose you haven't. Sorry.'

'Hey, s'not like I mind, to be honest I'm just glad something can get a rise out of you.'

Before Kaiser could reply, the door between them swung open and Hibiki stuck his head out. 'Yo, you can come in and start sponging off my generosity now.' As there was no real reply to something like that (other than maybe a satisfied grin from Paul) the GetBackers followed back inside, Paul's eyes instantly fell on the cubicle in the back where Teshimine and Atsuko were sat.

They weren't talking, weren't even looking at one another before Teshimine got up and headed for the door. 'I dunno what you wanted from any of this, turns out I can't protect anyone after all.' He passed by the GetBackers and the bell clattered as he swept out into the night. As if on cue as the door closed rain began to patter against the window, quickly becoming a heavy downpour. Before anyone could speak Kaiser had crossed to the doorway as well. 'I got this one, partner.'

Paul looked back to Atsuko who was just staring at the place where her 'little brother' had disappeared. 'Hibiki, two more coffees, make 'em black.'

'Comin' right up, Paul.' For once their host did not argue, if anything was going to put Paul ill at ease it ought to have been that, but he had bigger fish to fry.

It didn't take Kaiser at all long to catch up, Teshimine was the only human walking the streets in the early morning dowpour, there wasn't another person or even a car in sight. _Strange... could this also be the work of those people... are they telling me to fight as much as I want? No, it's probably just a feeling_ Rain chilled the exposed skin of his right arm and stuck his tattered clothes close to his body, but all his attentions turned away from momentary discomforts and to the boy in front of him. 'Hey, kid!'

Teshimine turned, facing Kaiser along the central line of the street he'd been trudging down. His eyes seemed sad and he kept them almost entirely closed, not even looking straight at Kaiser. 'I've got a name you know?'

Kaiser crossed his arms, standing straight. 'So you do, Takeru Teshimine, a name well earned.'

There followed a heavy silence, only the sound of the rain beating down could be heard around them. 'So... what do you want from me now?'

'Just you.' In a flicker of movement Kaiser had vanished and now stood behind Teshimine, between the boy and the silhouette of Mugenjou dominating the skyline. 'Here's what's going to happen: I'm going to come at you and you're going to try to survive.' Kaiser was on him before Teshimine even had chance to open his mouth, as the older man's arm came crashing down he barely had chance to step back from the attack. Kaiser's hand struck the ground with enough force to crack it, he swept back up with his left, Teshimine again barely evading.

'What the hell man!' Teshimine crossed his arms to protect from Kaiser's next strike which never the less sent him sprawling on the floor. Looking up from the damp ground and at Kaiser already advancing, Teshimine's eyes became wide with fear..

'You'd best get back up Teshimine, or else you're going to die for sure.'

'I don't understand it at all, why would he want to stay in a horrid place like Mugenjou?'

Paul thought a second about what Kaiser had said, seemed as though that was the way things had progressed after all. He put down his coffee and fixed Atsuko with a serious gaze. 'I think that I can understand why. Even though Mugenjou is such a terrible place, its a place where people can still carve out an existence. Teshimine might very well spend his every waking moment fighting, but he does that to protect the people who are precious to him and to give them a better life, one without violence. If he were to just up and leave it would be like spitting in the face of his treasured friends.'

'You think so?'

'Yeah. It's not like he's fighting alone though. From what I saw while we were in Mugenjou he has at least one good comrade to look out for him.'

'But I still don't...' Atsuko lifted her coffee cup as if to take a sip before slamming it back down to the table, 'Why does it have to be him that protects everyone! It's not fair that a child should have that kind of weight on his shoulders!'

For the second time in as many days Paul had no answer.

'It's not fair.' Hibiki had come back, slurping his own coffee. 'But if what Paul says is true then what that kid is doing is to make sure that those people he protects don't have to hold that burden. In which case the best thing you could do for him is to help those important people. That's about the length and breadth of it I'd say.' With his sage counsel dispensed he took another swig and set his cup down on the table. 'The sun's rising.' Light had only just begun to crest over the buildings in the window behind Hibiki, somewhere out there were Der Kaiser and Teshimine. 'Looks like it'll be a beautiful day after all.'

'It's stopped raining' Teshimine observed. He was sat back to back with Kaiser on the pavement looking into the brightening sky. They'd gone at each other for real again and this was the result. 'Man am I tired.'

'Glad you finally decided to fight me like an equal.'

'Equal, really?'

'Don't get me wrong, squirt. You've got a long way to go before you can dream of beating Der Kaiser, but battle gets really boring once someone's resigned to defeat. At least you gave me a good run around this time.'

'Just a run around?' Teshimine's eyes dropped, he visibly slumped.

'Better take that face off before I slap it off for you. You're the boy genius who earned the respect of the invincible GetBackers after all. That means you're not allowed to lose to anybody, understand?'

'But... if I can't beat you guys and become strong, how can I ever protect anyone?'

'Stop asking questions. Just do it, otherwise you'll go to your grave never having lived by your own will. Until you fall down dead there's not a person on this planet you can't fight evenly, that's what it means to protect someone.' Kaiser stood and offered the boy a hand up but Teshimine waved him off.

'I'm alright, I think I've got the strength to..' As he stood he grabbed his torso in pain and would've fallen were Kaiser not there to catch hold of him.

'Whatever, you can be tough when you get back to Mugenjou.'

Teshimine reluctantly took the arm and was hauled up, leaning heavily on Der Kaiser as they walked. 'I didn't even know it was such a big deal.'

'Hm?'

'Saving that girl's life, I didn't even know that was a big deal, it's just what me and Ujie-sama do for people who are unlucky enough to live in Mugenjou... or to wander in like she did. I mean that's just how we live around there, day to day. It's not like I even knew her name before today.'

'Tch, things are different for people on the outside. They don't have any concept of what it's like to live in perpetual danger, only natural she'd want to repay you.'

'I guess... Kaiser, is there someone you want to protect?'

'I dunno. The better question would be is there anyone I don't want to protect?'

'From the people in Babylon Tower?'

'Especially from the people in Babylon Tower.'

The sun was completely risen when Kaiser returned to the Voodoo Brew. Hibiki was in the back while Paul was on one of the counter stools, he beckoned his partner to come join him. 'He went back to find Kaijin' Kaiser explained as he sat down.

'Right. Think he's okay?'

'Don't much care.'

'Liar.'

'What about Midou?'

'I think she'll be okay, she's just had her eyes opened, no telling what'll happen next.'

Hibki stepped behind the counter from in the back and slapped a piece of paper down in front of the GetBackers. Kaiser picked it up and scanned his eyes across it. 'Your tab gentlemen, with you retrieval fees subtracted as per our agreement.'

Kaiser passed it over to Paul who looked it over with wide eyes. 'But Hibiki... you've added stuff back on!'

'How else can I pay for what you and your clients ordered during the job?'

'Crafty old bastard...'

* * *

**On the next exciting episode of GetBackers- nah, I'm just messin' with ya, get outta here.**


	4. Filler: Kurusu Masaki Gaiden

**This is just another little side story set later in the timeline between the first and third generations. If I had to describe it I'd call it a crystalised moment of tenderness... then realise I was being pretentious and crack myself in the nuts with a hammer.**

**I'm still writing Divine Voice, it's just that because it introduces what many people see as a very significant character I want to handle it as best I can.  
**

**Disclaimer: See chapter one.  
**

The Limitless Memories of Kurusu Masaki

That they had cleared such an area was a travesty. Every year they would dig out chunks of rubble break them up, move them away and for what? Masaki knew the answer even as he posed the question to himself. It was carved into the countless stone markers which dotted the vastness of the Lower Town cemetery. No, cemetery was too elegant of a word for it, it was a graveyard. He knew the answer because Mugenjou was a place ruled over by death and the ones that ruled over death were looking down from high above in Babylon Tower. His glance strayed upwards, knowing that someone was watching, always watching.

'Stop spacing out Mr. Masaki.' He looked down to the boy crouching at his side at one of the thousands of graves, the single flower he had placed looking a pitiful but sincere tribute not to that one grave, but to all. He looked down at the clear eyes, the hair swept back back the constant static which the Lightning Emperor produced.

'Sorry Ginji, I was just thinking of something else.' If there was a force which counteracted death, it would have to be the Lightning Emperor. It was easy to call him the tyrant king of Mugenjou, but for those who knew him, Amano Ginji exuded a warmth far beyond the reach of that same static field. 'What was it you were saying?'

Ginji shifted his eyes to the dirt piled over the grave, placing a tender, almost reassuring hand against it. 'I was just wondering. Why do you suppose people's lives can't be gotten back?'

'Ginji...' Masaki smiled as he looked down at the boy, he did not speak at first, merely offered the young man a hand up.

'Mr. Teshimine?' They were standing before the lonely grave in the centre of the small site they'd cleared together. The entirety of Lower Town was in mourning, but they had both thought the burial should be a private affair. Others could say their goodbyes when they visited.

Teshimine looked down at the young blonde haired boy, only his junior by a few years, but who looked up to him not just as an older brother, but almost like the father figure whom he had been deprived of. 'Hm, what is it Masaki?'

Masaki stared at the grave marker he had inscribed himself. 'Do you think...? Do you think that it's possible to recover someone's life? Do you think those two would be able to do it?' His eyes had begun to cloud with tears as he looked up at him. 'Could they... could they do it?'

'Masaki...' The older boy knelt down beside him, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder as he was rocked by sobs. 'Life isn't like an object which can be recovered, that's why you have to fight all the harder to protect it. Once it's gone it's something not even the GetBackers can retrieve.'

Masaki sniffed between sobs, tears already rolling off his face and pattering against the ground like raindrops. 'But why... why does life have to be like that? Why can't it be retrieved even in a place like this?' His entire body quaked as Teshimine put an arm around his shoulder, looking down at the grave marker as if for some signal or guidance.

'I don't know... I think that it's just something you have to try and figure out. As the future of Mugenjou, it's the people like you who have to find the answers for us doesn't mean we can't think about it together though.'

'And... and what happens then? W-when I've found the answers?'

'I dunno about that either, I suppose it all depends on the conclusions you come to. You understand right, Masaki? The future of Mugenjou depends on your answers.'

Masaki raised his head, looking in to the middle distance as his tears still fell freely and the sky darkened. 'What happens if I arrive at the wrong answer?'

Teshimine couldn't answer any further, the words he wanted to say were choking him. 'It's going to be night soon.' Masaki stood up and wiped his eyes and nose on his sleeve. As Teshimine watched him something changed, his skin appeared to grow lighter, no, that wasn't it. He was glowing! Yes! Sure enough as he stood staring down at the fresh grave he was giving off a soft light which became steadily brighter until they stood in a soft circle of light. 'Masaki?'

The light receded and died, returning them to twilight. 'Someday...' Masaki clenched his hands into fists as he continued to stare down at the name carved in the marker. 'Someday I'll climb Babylon Tower and find my own answers.'

For this, Teshimine did have and answer, he stood by Masaki's side and laid a hand over the other boy's heart. 'That's not you Masaki, it's them. Your answers are already right in here.' Masaki placed a hand over Teshimine's, a quizzical look on his face as he did so. Teshimine removed his hand, leaving Masaki with his hand over his heart. He ruffled the younger boy's hair and smiled as best he could. 'C'mon, we better get back, we've got important work to do, you and me.'

They both turned away from the grave and began to walk. They did not see Masaki's tears which had fallen to the ground begin to evaporate as if under some intense heat until the grave marker of Ujie Kaijin was completely free of sorrow.

As Ginji accepted his hand and was pulled to his feet, Masaki laid a hand over his heart. 'The answers are in here Ginji, it's you that has to find them. When you do find them, a new age will begin in Mugenjou. In the meantime, we'll all fight to hold on to all the life that's in Lower Town.'

'So I just have to follow the path that's laid out in front of me, huh Mr. Masaki?'

The older man's eyes darkened, his gaze shifted to the structure high above them. 'That path isn't yours Ginji,' the Lightning Emperor's gaze followed his own. 'It's theirs. You have to find the path for yourself and proceed down it without hesitating. You're the Lightning Emperor of Lower Town after all.'

Placing a hand on Ginji's head, he ruffled his hair in affection. 'Hey, cut it out Mr. Masaki.'

'HEY! THERE YA ARE!' The ever energetic Emishi Haruki knew just how to spoil a tender moment. He skidded to a stop in front of the two to catch his breath before he carried on. 'There... phew! There's some guy coming in from the outside! He's defeating everyone in sight and keeps on calling for the Lightning Emperor!'

Ginji's eyes darkened instantly, his rise in tension was not lost on his companion. 'Ginji?'

He was obviously going deeper into being the Lightning Emperor, electricity had already begun to spark around him in short bursts. 'Emishi, Masaki, I want you to gather up the Four Kings and have them help evacuate everyone to the lower levels.' He had already begun to stalk off in the direction Emishi had come from.

'Ginji!' The younger man turned, but already the person who Masaki beheld had ceased to be Amano Ginji. 'If this is the path you choose, you can't ever go back on it, got that?'

Ginji nodded and turned back towards his goal, leaving Masaki alone with Emishi. 'Say there Kurusu-han? Don't suppose you're gettin' the same bad feeling I am are ya?'

Masaki just kept staring at the spot where Ginji had looked back at them, he did have a bad feeling, but he wasn't about to let it show. 'He'll come back.' He didn't know just quite who he was trying to convince. 'He always comes back... come on. We have to get moving.' As Emishi began to run, Masaki paused a moment, looking towards the epicentre of the graveyard, no, the cemetery before continuing after the other man.


End file.
